Dog attack leaves owner critical

July 17, 2014

A Greenwood man remains in critical condition in a Pittsburgh hospital after he was attacked by his dog.

Logan Township police were called to the 600 block of Rutgers Lane just before noon Tuesday and found Stephen Ross, 42, pinned to the ground by the dog, a mixed breed American pit bull terrier-American bulldog.

"He had him pinned down and kept tearing him up," said Logan Township Police Chief Ron Heller, who said officers were unable to separate the dog from Ross and an officer ultimately had to shoot and kill the animal.

Heller said the dog was larger than the typical pit bull and had Ross pinned by his head, arm and upper part of his body. Officers tried to use a Taser but could not due to the close proximity of the dog to Ross. Heller said the Taser's probes scatter, leaving officers no choice but to shoot bullets, and even then, it took two calculated shots to put the dog down to save Ross' life.

Ross was taken by AMED ambulance to UPMC Altoona, and after emergency surgery, he was flown to UPMC Pittsburgh, Heller said. According to UPMC Pittsburgh, Ross remained in critical condition Wednesday evening.

Heller said Ross appeared to be running a dog rescue and had other dogs on the property, so police brought in the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society police as well as the state dog law officer to assist.